Hi Alain,A few years ago we had a forum thread in which we tried to calculate the number of registered silversmiths in the British Isles over the last 300 years. We tallied up the marks listed in the various references and did some creative theorizing on those not listed and time periods not covered - and came up with the staggering estimate, in reality guesstimate of 80,000 or so. Given the sheer volume, the vast majority of them would have to be relatively unknown.